Expressing deepa anguish and disappointment over the Centre rejecting the Coimbatore and Madurai Meto Rail projects, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M K Stalin today wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his personal intervention and also said he was ready to meet him in person in New Delhi and explain the issues in detail.
Mr Stalin also said he has advised the Department of Special Initiatives to submit detailed justifications on the issues raised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and urge Mr Modi to instruct the MoHUA to review the decision of returning the proposals as the two projects involved the aspirations of the industrial and cultural hubs of Tamil Nadu, In a Demi-Official letter to Mr Modi, he conveyed the state’s disappointment and anguish over the rejection of the proposals for Metro Rail systems in Coimbatore and Madurai and urge him
to instruct the MoHUA to reconsider the decision.
He said Tamil Nadu, being the most urbanised State in the country with a high per-capita private vehicle ownership, needs high-capacity public transport alternatives in all its large growth engine cities.
“Towards this, we had prepared the DPRs for Coimbatore and Madurai Metro Rails and forwarded the same to MoHUA for approval”, he said.
“Considering the high priority accorded to these two projects, we were continuously following up with the relevant Ministry”, the Chief Minister said recalled his earlier meeting with Mr Modi on May 24 and July 26 and submitted a memorandum on our priority requests.
Mr Stalin said “in this backdrop, the rejection of this request has taken us by complete surprise and has created deep resentment amongst the people of the two cities that their deserving needs have been rejected, as compared to similar projects sanctioned in other States.”
Observing that the purported reasons quoted in the communication from MoHUA are not appropriate, he said the criterion of 2 million population, as in the Metro Rail Policy 2017, has been quoted as one of the main reasons for rejection.
Highlighting that the population of Coimbatore LPA area had exceeded two million way back in 2011 itself and in the case of Madurai too, the expected population is likely to exceed it now, Mr Stalin said it was pertinent to point out at this juncture that if this two million criteria had been applied uniformly, many Metros in Tier-II cities like Agra, Indore and Patna might not have materialised.
“The selective application of this criterion to our proposal has created an impression of discrimination against our cities and union Government needs to dispel it by treating our cities on par with the cities mentioned above”, he added.
The Chief Miniser said in addition, the adequacy of ridership for the project in Coimbatore city has been arrived at by comparing with the ridership of Chennai. This is not appropriate since ridership depends upon multiple factors.
Pointing out that both these cities have commuting patterns different from Chennai, Mr Stalin said the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) for Coimbatore prepared by RITES after detailed traffic studies had clearly projected the need for MRTS in the proposed sectors.
For Madurai also, the CMP of 2011 had proposed BRT but since most of the route length would have to be elevated, it had clearly mentioned that the rail-based system can also be considered, he said.
Further, the DPR studies have made subsequent independent assessments of traffic projections, which justified the need for Metro Rail corridors, the Chief Minister said, adding, these factors have not been adequately taken into consideration.
He said with reference to the availability of right of way, it is well known that Metro Rail projects have necessitated acquisition of private lands in most cities in India.
“We are fully conscious of the need for balancing social costs due to land acquisition with the long term socio-economic benefits from Metro Rail projects. We have been offering compensation which meets the expectations of the land owners in our current project and we will ensure that the availability of land will not be a hindrance for the proposed projects at Coimbatore and Madurai cities”, the Chief Minister assured.
“In this scenario, I have advised the Department of Special Initiatives to submit detailed justifications on the issues raised by MoHUA. I urge you to instruct MoHUA to review the decision of returning the proposals in light of the above points”, Mr Stalin said, dding, “If necessary, I am ready to meet you at New Delhi with my team to explain the issues in detail.”
“Since these two projects involve the aspirations of the industrial and cultural hubs of Tamil Nadu, I look forward to your personal intervention in this issue”, he added.